Great pay, great hours for retail - Buyer CarMax Employee Review

4.0
Jan 2, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Straight salary. No commission like sales associates. Bonus is great if you max out, able to bonus monthly. For retail, hours are great. Never work pass 9pm. Even though your salary you are only scheduled 40 hours, sometimes you stay late, but not often. Discount on cars. Not so much for the cars carmax sells to anyone but for the whole sale cars they auction weekly to other dealers. You can buy these at cost and flip them for a Huge profit. Fun job, open check book to buy cars.

Cons

Traveling. Most auctions are local but you can be put on a traveling team requiring over night travel. However, airline miles and hotel points are yours to keep. Politics, some people are content as a buyer and are great. Others want to be senior buyers and purchasing managers, these are the ones you need to watch out for, they will run you over, then back up back over you. Micro managing. It's an easy job once your a buyer, but while you are a buyer in training every move you make and every decision you make will be scrutinized. Don't get on the bad side of the senior buyers and purchasing managers or you will be promoted to customer.

Explore other reviews about CarMax

5.0
Jun 19, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great benefits, good work environment.

Cons

Work weekends, late shifts (stores stay open until 9).

4.0
Jun 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The perks of working at CarMax are quite extensive. Associates are offered an aggressive 401k program, Stock Purchasing Plan, in store discounts on sales and service, access to the CarMax Wholesale system, excellent healthcare, plenty of PTO, and at my location we are given as much OT as we want. My coworkers are generally good people, that I enjoy being able to work along side day in and day out. Management is very understanding in regards to calling out sick family emergencies, and schedule requests.

Cons

Despite doing the work of 5 people, and very politely asking for a raise management will not give me more than my 3% annual raise which is the single biggest let down. The bonus change of 2025 being labeled as "exciting" was straight corporate gaslighting unlike anything I've ever seen. Since the start of 2026, as of this review being written we have lost 7 associates largely due to pay, and I am soon to join those associates. Management from the store level up to corporate needs to understand that to retain their top performers they need to be compensated like a top performer. Some members of management are cliquey and moody which is very frustrating to deal with. Quality of Management varies wildly from store to store as well

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